Programmed to Fail: Why You’re So Ashamed of Being Happy
You can keep it a secret from them…but not here. This is why you’re so ashamed of going after what you really want.
by E.B. Johnson
For years I was shamed and punished for the life I wanted to lead. Growing up in rural southern town, I got told I was a “spoiled brat” and a “snob” for wanting to leave it all behind.
“Who do you think you are?” was a phrase I knew like the back of my hand by the age of 12.
Things didn’t get any better when I grew up and left that small town behind, either. As I learned more about myself and the world, I bloomed into things I really enjoyed. I found new passions and interests.
And each time I was labelled pretentious. Arrogant. Out of my place.
Eventually, I came to associate shame with anything that I wanted. New passions and interests were treated with hesitation and suspicion. Everything I enjoyed came with a sense of guilt and an endless question mark.
Breaking through the rubble.
I won’t lie and say that I broke through this haze of shame overnight. That’s a lot of heaviness to take on for anyone, and I held on to it as tightly as I did the…
